Alert archive / West Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Charleston, WV

May 18, 1995Wyoming County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1995, 10:13 PM EDT for Wyoming County, West Virginia. It was in force for 47 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 1995, 10:13 PM EDT (02:13 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1995, 11:00 PM EDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Wyoming County, WV

The nearest sounding before it

Huntington/Tri S, WV (KHTS), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 119 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Huntington/Tri S, WV at 00:00Z on 1995-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Huntington/Tri S, WV at 00:00Z on 1995-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 225 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1240 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
70 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
225 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
361 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KCRW 190214
TORCRW
WVC109-190300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
1013 PM EDT THU MAY 18 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...WYOMING COUNTY
 
AT 1010 PM DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO OVER
EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN WYOMING COUNTY MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH. THE STORM
WILL CROSS SOUTHERN WYOMING COUNTY DURING THE NEXT 45 MINUTES.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TOP A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 18, 5:50 PM EDT, 4 hours 23 minutes before
WVZ007-009-017-018-029-OHZ066-067-076-083>085-KYZ101-102-104-202300-
SPECIAL WEATHER AND RIVER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
545 PM EDT THU MAY 18 1995

...WATER LEVELS RUNNING HIGH ON THE LITTLE SANDY IN KENTUCKY...
   AND ON THE HOCKING AND MUSKINGUM RIVERS IN OHIO....

...HIGH WATER LEVELS EXPECTED ON THE LITTLE KANAWHA RIVER IN
   WEST VIRGINIA...

RAINFALL THAT FELL ACROSS THE AREA EARLIER TODAY....EXPECTED RAINFALL
BETWEEN 3/4 TO 1.50 INCHES THIS EVENING...AND THE ALREADY SATURATED
GROUND WILL ALLOW MOST OF THE WATER TO RUNOFF INTO THE STREAMS AND INTO
THE LITTLE SANDY...HOCKING...MUSKINGUM...AND LITTLE KANAWHA RIVERS.

WATER LEVELS ON THE LITTLE SANDY AT GRAYSON WERE RUNNING NEAR BANKFULL
AT THIS TIME. THE LITTLE SANDY AT GRAYSON IS EXPECTED TO CREST AROUND
THE FLOOD STAGE OF 21 FEET DURING THE MORNING HOURS ON FRIDAY.

WATER LEVELS ON THE HOCKING RIVER AT ATHENS IS EXPECTED TO REACH NEAR
THE FLOOD STAGE OF 20 FEET ON SATURDAY EVENING.

WATER LEVELS ON THE MUSKINGUM RIVER ARE EXPECTED TO CREST FROM 3/4 TO
NEAR BANKFULL AT MCCONNELLSVILLE.

WATER LEVELS ON THE LITTLE KANAWHA AT GLENVILLE ARE EXPECTED TO REACH
3/4 TO NEAR BANKFULL AROUND NOON ON FRIDAY.  GRANTSVILLE AND ELIZABETH
ARE ONLY EXPECTED TO REACH 3/4 BANKFULL.

BACKWATER AFFECTS ON STREAMS AND CREEKS THAT FEED INTO THESE RIVERS MAY
CAUSE SOME MINOR FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS.

PERSONS LIVING ALONG THE LITTLE SANDY...HOCKING...MUSKINGUM...
AND LITTLE KANAWHA SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR WATER LEVELS.

DO NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAYS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TV AND RADIO FOR ANY FURTHER
STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS.

END/SIKORA

The office that day

Everything else NWS Charleston, WV issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 9:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXClay25 min
May 18, 9:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXMingo29 min
May 18, 9:45 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXCabell, Kanawha, Lincoln, Putnam6 hr
May 18, 9:45 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXWayne6 hr
May 18, 9:45 PM EDTTornado WarningRLXMingo30 min
May 18, 10:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXMcDowell, Wyoming40 min
May 18, 10:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXRaleigh27 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in West Virginia, 1995Every tornado warning in 1995Tornadoes in 1995

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.